Teachers who prefer a leave of absence rather than teaching on another island

CitadelNearly 4,000 teachers, 1,533 of whom are assigned to Menorca, are forced to leave their island each year to teach. Temporary teachers must travel for a few years until they can secure a stable job and find a permanent position at a school close to home. This challenge has worsened in recent years with the housing crisis, forcing many professionals to take leave and work in private teaching or other sectors to avoid having to abruptly change their place of residence.

31-year-old Menorcan Paula Petrus Goñalons will teach German at the Official Language School of Mahon this year to avoid moving to Formentera, where she had obtained a position. The young teacher prefers this to living the entire year on the smaller Pitiusa, where "I would spend my salary traveling back and forth," since the 400-euro supplement granted by the Catalan government "doesn't compensate me."

Last year, she managed to stay in Menorca by obtaining a service commission at the Joan Ramis y Ramis secondary school in Mahon, but the impossibility of repeating her leave this year forced her to look for work abroad. "If I hadn't gotten the opportunity at the Language School, I probably would have taken a leave of absence and ended up working in a hotel," she says.

Paula was already one of those affected by the decision made two years ago by the Ministry of Education, which awards permanent positions to permanent civil servants, ignoring the tests taken by temporary teachers. For her, like 95% of applicants, passing the competitive examinations was of no use, as the Ministry still assigned her a position outside of Menorca. Last year she was able to avoid this thanks to the service commission, and this year, thanks to the position she found at the Language School. Even so, at the beginning of this academic year, administrative errors in awarding positions to temporary teachers have been repeated, and Paula fears that if her merits are not recognized in the coming months, she will once again face the problem of having to leave. "The truth is, I'm not completely sure," she admits. "What I want is a permanent position in Menorca, but let's see if I'm lucky enough to end up in Mallorca," where she was posted when she was younger and where she met her partner.

It's clear that getting a permanent position isn't always a guarantee of stability. Fanni Murillo, 52, with three children—the youngest is 13—has avoided spending the school year in Port d'Alcúdia, where she has a position, thanks to the service commission granted to her at the Inspector Doctor Comas Camps public school in Alaior.

The previous two years, she was already forced to take a leave of absence and work at the inland hotel her family runs in Menorca. "For me, going to Mallorca is a mountain to climb. Between traveling back and forth and renting an apartment, it just wasn't worth it," she says. "A colleague wanted to try it by flying back and forth from Palma every day, but it only lasted a week and ended up taking a leave of absence," the same thing she did.

"It's great to be stabilized, but they must see that they're destabilizing you if they give you a position abroad," she adds. In fact, when they gave Alcúdia a permanent position, "I asked to be an interim position again, and they denied it. Legally, you can't go back." Had she not obtained the secondment this year, this would have been Fanni's third consecutive year on voluntary special leave, a permit granted for a maximum of three years.

The secondment appeal

Fanni's case is a recurring one this year. Remarkably, 925 of the 1,033 teachers who had requested a secondment to the islands—89% of the total—have been granted one. The majority, around 400, have done so for personal reasons. That is, having a child under 15 who makes the necessary work-life balance difficult, being close to sixty, or facilitating family reunification.

Starting this year, teachers assigned to Ibiza and Menorca will also receive a monthly supplement similar to that already paid to those who must teach in Formentera. All positions in the lower Pitiusa Islands are considered very difficult to fill and entitle them to a bonus of up to 400 euros per month. Teachers posted to Ibiza receive a 200 euro supplement, and those to Menorca receive 100 euros.

However, this compensation does not convince many applicants, who end up opting to take a leave of absence and dedicate themselves to other professions for a year, often with no direct connection to the educational field.

Furthermore, the lack of year-round residential rentals complicates the stay for teachers, but also for judicial officials, doctors, or security forces officers who are posted to Menorca for a year. Although a good part of the non-tourist rental offer is specifically geared toward these groups, the supply is very scarce. Of the 120 homes currently rented throughout Menorca through the Idealista website, 104, almost 90%, are seasonal, and only 16 allow minimum stays of 10 months, tailored to the needs of teachers posted to another island.

The Menorca Teachers' Association assures, however, that the problem is not as serious as in Ibiza. "We are fortunate that the season here is shorter, and you can always find tenants offering apartments between September and June, which is what a teacher from abroad needs," says Miquel Mariano. As a further measure, the Ministry of Education is also helping teachers find housing.